Golf-ball.



-F. H. RICHARDS.

GOLF BALL.

(Application filed Apr. 24 1902.)

(No Model.)

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j UNITED STATES "PATENT Ormes.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEKEMPSI-IALL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ARLINGTON, NEW JERSEY, ACORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of `Letters Patent N 0. '712,41 1, datedOctober 28, 1902.

Application met April 24, 190:2,l l

if@ all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a: citizen of theUnited States,residing at Hart-` ford, in the county of Hartford and State of`Connecticut, have invented certain new and? useful Improvements inGolf-Balls, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to playing-balls and its object is to produce atlow cost a strong 1o ball having flying and other properties speciallyadapting it for use in golf and similar games.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a part-sectional view of aball made in accordance with my present improvements, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the com-` ponents of the ballassembled in a mold.

In said views like parts are designated by similar characters ofreference.

zo One feature of my present improvements relates to the construction ofthe ball with an` outer layer cushionedupon a spring layer orspring-shell, this shell being again cushioned by a relatively thinlayer upon a iirmf buty slightly-yielding central portion or core, and afurther feature consists in theintegrality` of the said spring-shellwith 011e or both of' said cushion layers, (one suchlayer b eingloutside and the other inside of v said spring- 3o shell,) thisintegrality being accomplished in` the case of a ball in which saidparts are made of rubber by so unitingtogether `the several layers inthe process of manufacture, that the said` layers are united theone to'the other throughout substantially their entire When thus built up, thesaid com` posite shell for supporting the outer covering and itselfsupported upon the inner core of? Serial No. 104,509. (No model.)

I is struck is better distributed upon the corresponding area of saidspring-shell, by which means the spring-shell may be made thinner aswell as of harder material, and thus more highly elastic, than wouldotherwise be deemed desirable. When the core of the ball is made ofrubber vulcanized to a consistency somewhat greater than that of thesaid cushion layer,this core by reason of its own mobility Will operatein connection with the other parts to somewhat modify the action of eachof them, as well asto modify their action as a combination, and by thismeans, in connection with a suitable proportioning of the various partsin view of the particular work to be accomplished by the use of theball,`the ball may be given Varying degrees of resistance and alsovarying degrees of liveliness, as may be desired.

For the core of the ball I preferably employ a spherel of uncured orpartially-cured rubber, said core or sphere having a central cavity A.rOver this I place a layer 2, of uncured or partially-cured soft rubber,preferably in Vthe formjof segments, thejoint between which iisindicated at B. Upon the layer 2 I apply a` layer 3, of hard rubber,such as used in making hard; rubber goods of commerce.

Upon this.'hardrubber layerI apply' seg- -ments 4, of soft springyrubber, the joint between them being indicated at C, and over the, wholeI place a cover consisting of one or more layersfpreferably two) offabric 5, incorporated Vwith a layer of rubber 6, which is `preferablystrong and able to sustain rough usageA without cracking or chipping.

' The several elements of the ball thus assembled I place in a moldconsistingr of cups 7 and 8, each cup being preferably provided withpits 9 for forming brambles upon the ball, and then I heat the `mold andball to an extent to cure more thoroughly all of the rubber componentsof the ball, the curing proceeding far enough to produce a ball havingthe required characteristics. In curing the several elements eachis'welded to its mate, While all of the components of the ball areWelded together, thus forming a solid and strong ball. rThe expansion ofthe material of the ball due to the said curing causes the loo sides ofthe cavity A of the core or center l piece to contract, thus making saidcore or center piece practically solid, as indicated at la, Fig. 1, theprincipal purpose in providing said cavityA being topermit suchexpansion of the material. By having the several components of the balloriginally cured to a certain extent the liability of the sulfur fromone layer passing through other layers is re` duced, so that each layermay substantially preserve its integrity and characteristics, asindicated at Fig. l.

The hard-rubber shell 3 gives a very quick response when the ball istended to be distorted by a blow from a club, and by both facing andbacking it with the highly-resilient soft-rubber layers 4 and 2 thisquality ofthe hard-rubber layer is Well developed, while saidsoft-rubber layers also prevent sharp indentation and cracking of thesaid hard-rubber layer. The center piece l, which preferably forms alarge portion of the body of the ball, may be of a very firm quality ofrubber and such as will quickly recover itself froma blow, butpreferably not of such a soft character as the layer 2, which backs thehardrubber layer 3. The outer portion of the ball should be of a toughquality of rubbersuch as used, for instance, in forming leather beltingand other articles which are subjected to rough usage. The fabric 6 insaid outer layer or casing tends to strengthen the latter and, moreover,prevents the ball from being too sensitive when given a light blow by aclub, so that it is well adapted for putting. By being cured upon theinner portion of the ball said casing is rendered proof againstdisruption from the latter, which is a very important feature in thisclass of balls. By providing the mold with the pits 9 brambles 9, Fig.l, are caused'to be formed upon the facing as the ball is cured. Thus Iproduce a ball Which is unaffected by the heat of a summers day and isphenomenally tough and durable and has such extraordinary flying poweras to render it suitable for the game of golf, While, as will beobserved, it may be produced at low cost.

Variations may be resorted to within the scopeof my improvements.

It will be understood that owing to the eX- pansion of the materialwithin the confines of the mold the core l and the soft-rubber layerthereupon are both put into a state of permanent compression, so thatthey tend constantly to expand the hard-rubber shell 3 and the overlyingshell components, or, in other Words, the compound shell of the ballholds the filling in a state of normal compression.

Having thus described my invention, I claim l. A ball comprising a rmcore, a layer of soft rubber thereon, a layer of hard rubber upon saidsoft rubber, a layer of soft rubber upon said hard rubber, and a casingof tough rubber in which fabric is embedded.

2. A ball comprising a firm core, a layer of soft rubber thereon, alayer of hard rubber upon said soft rubber, a layer of softrubber uponsaid hard rubber, and a casing of tough rubber in which fabric isembedded; all of said rubber elements being vulcanized together.

3. A ball comprising a firm rubber core, a layer of soft rubber thereon,a layer of hard rubber upon said soft rubber, a layer of soft rubberupon said hard rubber, and a casing of tough rubber in which fabric isembedded; all of said rubber elements being vulcanized together.

4. A playing-ball comprising a relatively thin shell of hard rubberbacked by yielding rubber and also faced by yielding rubber.

5. A playing-ball comprising a relatively thin shell of hard rubberbacked by yielding rubber and also faced by yielding rubber; said facingbeing protected by a casing of rubber compounded With fabric.

6. In a playing-ball, a sphere of hard rubber backed by a sphere of softrubber, said spheres being vulcanized together.

7. A playing-ball comprising a core of iirm material, a soft-rubberlayer thereon, a hardrubber layer upon said soft-rubber layer, asoft-rubberlayer upon said hard-rubber layer, and a harder casingconsisting of fabric and plastic material.

8. In a playing-ball, a shell comprising a layer of hard rubber and alayer of tough material thereon, and a filling within said hardrubberlayer; said filling consisting at least partially of soft rubber andbeing held under compression by said shell.

9. A playing-ball comprising a core of firm rubber, a shell of firmrubber, and an intermediate layer of rubber softer than said core andshell.

l0. A playing-ball comprising a core of firm rubber, a shell of rmrubber, and an intermediate layer of rubber softer than said core andshell; said shell confining said core and intermediate layer in a stateof compression.

1l. A playing-ball comprising an interior body consisting of rubber, atleast a portion whereof is in the form of a'soft sphere, and an exteriorshell confining said body in a state of compression; said shellconsisting at least partially of firm rubber.

12. A playing-ball comprising an interior body of rubber at least aportion whereof is in the form of a sphere of soft rubber, and an outershell consisting of firm rubber incorporated with fabric.

13. A playing-ball comprising an interior body of rubber at least aportionwhereof is in the form of a sphere of soft rubber, and an outershell vulcanized thereto and consisting of firm rubber incorporated withfabric.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

B. C. STICKNEY, EDWARD E. ELLIS.

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